Sparring Partners
by bardsocko
Summary: Konoha's Future Hokage could use a lesson in humility. Hinata is up for the task. [One Shot]


"Whenever we practice, you never take me seriously," the petite Jounin with pearlescent eyes and black hair informed her boyfriend in a tart voice, "Am I _that_ weak in your eyes?"

"It's not that," Naruto said nervously, "I just…"

"Naruto-kun," Hinata exclaimed with exasperation, "What is it?" The tall, blonde Jounin looked down at the ground, refusing to meet Hinata's inquisitive stare. The Hyuuga girl held back a sigh and waited patiently.

"I can't just… you know… come at you with everything I have."

"And why not?" There was a dangerous edge to the kunoichi's voice. Thanks to his blissful inability to pick up on subtle undertones, Naruto answered with earnest frankness.

"I'm a lot stronger than you, Hinata. I could cause some serious damage if I took you seriously. I don't want to hurt you." The Hinata of old would have been simultaneously flattered that Naruto was so concerned for her, and hurt that he considered her so inferior. The full-fledged Jounin Hinata was indignant that Naruto thought so poorly of her skills.

"Is that so?" she managed grate out through her teeth, "Well I'm very grateful for your concern, Naruto-kun."

"No problem, Hinata," the Kyuubi powered shinobi replied with a lopsided grin, "You should know it's not my ninja way to beat up on a girl… especially a girl like you." Naruto's special ability to get people believing in him was surpassed only by his ability to infuriate them with his thoughtless comments. Hinata was a patient and gentle person by nature, and her fuse was one of the longest in Konoha. She was not perfect, however… and the few times she had lost her temper, even Neji had made himself scarce.

When she had agreed to spar with Naruto several weeks back, Hinata had assumed it was because he felt there was something he wanted to learn from her. Much to her irritation, it became clear that her boyfriend merely wanted to monopolize her time to showcase the latest jutsus he had developed. She did her best to be an appreciative audience, but her generosity had only served to stoke the flames of Naruto's arrogance. His behavior began to try her patience steadily until at last, the dignified composure she kept about herself finally broke. Rather than burning fury, the icy rage dancing in Hinata's eyes caused Naruto to take a step back, involuntarily shivering.

"Uh, Hinata…?"

"Naruto-kun," Hinata replied in a polite but brisk tone, "We are all very impressed with the dedication and power you display for Konoha on a daily basis. However, it is my opinion that your skills as a shinobi are mediocre at _best_."

Naruto's expression darkened at her words, and his eyes narrowed. He was used to the Hinata that deferred to his judgement and admired his actions. He was quite proud of the constant training he put himself through, and to hear accusations of incompetence from his supposed champion felt like a punch in the stomach.

"Maybe I didn't hear you right," Naruto said with what could only be described as a scowl, "Did you just say that one of Konoha's strongest Jounin is mediocre at best?"

"I said _you _were mediocre at best," Hinata hissed back, "Not one of Konoha's strongest Jounin."

"What the hell is your problem!" Naruto shouted with a mixture of hurt and anger, "I'm just concerned for you!"

"You're so caught up being in awe of yourself that you never stopped to consider that maybe there's something you could learn from me!" Hinata practically screamed back at him, catching him completely off-guard. There was an awful silence that stretched across the training field. In the back of his mind, Naruto was dimly aware of the fact that he and Hinata were having their first real fight. A soft voice mentally cheered for the courage Hinata was displaying, but a louder, immature voice screamed for Naruto to fight back.

"What could I possibly learn from you?" he snarled, "How to not stand up for myself? How to hide my feelings behind a painful mask of weirdness?" The words were out before he could censor them, and Naruto's eyes were almost as wide with shock as Hinata's. A deep blush colored Hinata's cheeks and the sudden appearance of moisture in her eyes caused them to glitter in the light of the midday sun. Naruto swallowed deeply and took a step forward.

"Hinata… I…"

The Hyuuga Jounin cast him such a chilly glare that he froze in mid-step, his words dying on his lips. It was several long seconds before Hinata found her voice. She swiped at her eyes furiously and turned away from Naruto.

"Naruto-kun… When I first met you, I was sure that you were the person that I needed to become. Your straightforward honesty and your unflinching tenacity were qualities I could only dream of in myself." A long, frustrated sigh escaped from Hinata's lips as she turned back to face him.

"Knowing you better as I do now, I still love and admire the person you are… But I think that a large part of you has become overshadowed by arrogance." Hinata's eyes hardened as she continued, "Your over reliance on unlimited stamina has made you a poor leader and an even worst strategist. I will defeat you today as proof."

She moved away from him and assumed her Jyuuken stance and gestured for him to come at her. Naruto snorted with disbelief.

"Hinata, you can't be serious! Your strength doesn't even begin to approach mine--" he was unable to finish his sentence due to Hinata, who had launched herself at him with blinding speed. Her open handed punch was incredibly swift, but Naruto's reflexes were up to par. Just barely. The chakra infused blow that might have permanently damaged Naruto's small intestines grazed him slightly, eliciting a massive bruise on the left side of his stomach. He swore viciously and launched himself backwards to put some distance between himself and Hinata.

"You should never ignore an opponent who has assumed a battle stance, Naruto-kun," Hinata lectured with a tone of condescension, which caused her boyfriend to bristle with outrage, "Even an Academy student knows that." Naruto spat out some blood and gave her toothy grin.

"Alright, Hinata. Have it your way… but don't say I didn't warn you." The young man let out a roar and immediately, Hinata took two involuntary steps backward. The sheer quantity of chakra pouring out of him was overwhelming. With her Byakugan activated, Hinata saw the tendrils of orange chakra dancing around Naruto, forming what appeared to be nine tails.

"_Kage Bunshin no jutsu_!" Hundreds of white explosions announced the presence of Naruto's famed shadow clones. They all gave Hinata the same predatory grin as their creator, and leapt forward with astonishing speed. Even with her Byakugan, Hinata was unable to decipher which of the attackers was the true Naruto. Hinata allowed herself a tight smile. Naruto was sometimes laughable in his predictability. Kage Bunshin seemed to be his answer to every problem, despite the wasteful nature of the jutsu and the fact that greater numbers did not necessarily give him an edge.

Hinata's approach to battle was not the exact opposite of Naruto's, but it was close to it. Physically weaker than many of her opponents, and without an overly large chakra supply, the Hyuuga Jounin relied upon finesse and timing to achieve what her boyfriend did with brute strength and stubbornness.

She danced in between the clones, using her Jyuuken and incredible flexibility to destroy them while dodging their attacks and causing them to hit each other. Since there was only one of her, and hundreds of them, it was a simple matter to maneuver them into accidentally landing blows on each other. Naruto cursed softly, but grinned nonetheless. Hinata's abilities were clearly in fine form, but her stamina would run out if she continued to go head to head with his clones.

Hinata conducted a quick series of hand seals and a large explosion of dust announced her use of an earth type jutsu. Naruto supposed she was using it to hide underground and plan her next move.

"She's under the ground!" he growled, "Smash it!"

The clones shouted their assent and began to pound the ground, splitting asunder to find their target. One gave a triumphant shout as he spotted the startled Hinata. Several grabbed her and hoisted her up. Naruto smiled condescendingly and was about to say something smug when the Hinata being held by his clones exploded into a large piece of wood.

"Kawamiri no jutsu, Naruto-kun," Hinata's voice murmured behind him, "It's a basic shinobi skill. Perhaps you should learn to use it some day." Naruto threw himself aside just in time to avoid the blow that was aimed at his lower back. As he fell, he whipped a pair of kunai towards the source of the voice. His projectiles flew through empty space. His army of clones began to rush over to assist him when several of them let out startled yells of astonishment. Naruto rubbed his eyes with shock as he witnessed his own clones turning on one another. Before he knew it, his entire army had dissolved into a brawling mob hell bent on destroying itself. Realizing that it was impossible to regain control of them, he released the jutsu, and they popped out of existence. All that is, except for six. Scratching his head, he stared at them uncertainly.

"Henge, Naruto-kun," The lead clone explained in his voice, "Transformation jutsu. Remember?" An explosion of smoke later and the blonde Jounin stood face to face with his girlfriend. He glanced at the other clones behind her and she shrugged. They too, popped out of existence.

"Bunshin no jutsu," she replied in answer to his unspoken question, "They don't have solid form, but they make for convincing distractions. I managed to convince your clones that there was a traitor in their ranks. The rest took care of itself."

"Idiots," Naruto growled irritably. Hinata gave him a soft smirk.

"Shadow clones are only as smart as their creator." Naruto turned a deep shade of purple and grit his teeth. With an attempt at a nonchalant shrug, he made a point to examine his nails nonchalantly as Hinata watched him with hooded eyes.

"What makes you think I haven't thought about your little trick?" He asked softly. Hinata frowned despite herself. Naruto's grimace suddenly turned into a grin and the ground underneath Hinata suddenly erupted in an explosion of dirt and earth. At least a dozen hands latched themselves onto her calves and rooted her into place. Before she could use her Jyuuken to destroy them, Naruto was behind her, locking her arms behind her with one hand and holding her tight against him with the other.

"Why does everyone always underestimate me?" Naruto growled with a combination of amusement and frustration, "Even my own girlfriend thinks I'm still a dead last moron." Hinata could hear the hurt in his voice and struggled to keep the surge of sympathy from overwhelming her judgment. She had a lesson to teach.

"Naruto-kun," she murmured softly, "No one thinks you are a moron, least of all me. You know that, so stop fishing for pity." His grip tightened ever so slightly.

"What did you say?"

"You heard me," she replied grimly, "And who said I underestimated you?" With that last comment, she popped out of existence in an explosion of white smoke. A thrown kunai suddenly embedded itself in the ground between Naruto's feet. Naruto swore viciously and leapt backwards just a bit too late. The explosive seal attached to the projectile went off with Naruto still inside the blast radius. The clones beneath him were instantly destroyed, while he was tossed like a rag doll, tumbling end over end until he slammed into a tree, embedding himself in the trunk.

Groggily, he began to pull himself out when Hinata flashed in front of him, straddling him with her thighs and pinning him down. In a lightning succession of movement, she pummeled him with her Jyuuken technique and laid down a series of seals over his abdomen.

"What…?"

"It's over, Naruto-kun," Hinata whispered. Naruto spat with disgust. Of course it wasn't over! His connection with the Kyuubi allowed him to heal with astonishing speed, and even the sealing of his tenketsu was quickly overcome with the demon fox's own chakra. He waited for the infusion of demon chakra to fill his inner coils and bring him back to his feet. The wait dragged on for some time until he realized no help was coming from the demon sealed in his abdomen.

"Don't bother waiting for help from Kyuubi," Hinata commented softly as she kneeled down next to him, "I used a special seal to ensure that your connection with his chakra is temporarily severed. Without it, you're just as vulnerable as anyone else to tenketsu strikes."

The blonde Jounin attempted to sit up but was forced to lay back down as a sharp, blinding pain in his left leg flared up. Hinata moved to examine it, gasping with slight surprise.

"Y-your leg appears to be broken, Naruto-kun," she commented softly as she began to infuse it with green chakra. Hinata's training as a medical ninja was nowhere near that of Sakura's, but she was capable of basic field medicine when necessary. Naruto felt the pain in his leg begin to ebb, but a grimace remained firmly in place on his face.

"I guess you proved your point, Hinata," he commented – his voice somewhere between a growl and a sigh, "I don't have the brains to be a good shinobi."

"Naruto-kun…," Hinata began quietly, "No one doubts your abilities. You have saved this village on more occasions than the ANBU and most of our Jounins combined. You work yourself harder than any other ninja in Konoha…"

"But?" Naruto commented with a wry smile on his face. Hinata brightened at the return of good humor to her boyfriend's disposition. She moved away from his leg and sat down next to him.

"But," she replied matter of factly, "Your self-reliance over the years, has given way to arrogance which will not learn from others. Your tenacity and enthusiasm have always been your strengths. But a Hokage cannot get by with those alone… He must also possess subtlety and finesse." She smiled somewhat sheepishly at him. "I know you think I have enough subtlety and finesse for the both of us, but maybe you can learn a little too?"

"Hinata…" Naruto said with another grimace, "About what I said before…"

"Don't take those words back, Naruto-kun," Hinata said wistfully, "There is some truth in them." Naruto sat upright angrily, wincing at the pain that shot through his leg but refusing to lie back down. He stared into her eyes and she stared back, curious.

"Hinata," he murmured with amazement, "When did you learn _Kage Bunshin_?"

"Well, I, that is…," she started to blush, and looked down at the ground, "I've watched you do it so many times, I just sort of picked it up after a while."

"You're the most amazing person I know," he murmured with appreciation, "I'm glad you're around to beat some sense into me. If you'll help me up, I'd like to treat you to some lunch as payment for my first lesson today. Hopefully, you have time to give me many more." Hinata smiled brightly, and helped him to his feet. Slowly but surely, they made their way back into downtown Konoha, where the owner of Ichiraku had two bowels waiting for them. Naruto was going through his fifth bowel when Hinata stopped him.

"Naruto-kun," she began shyly, "I wanted to ask you something?"

"Hmm?"

"When we were fighting, I could sense that you were going all out, but you never tried to hit me. Why is that?"

"Oh that? Well uh…"

"Naruto-kun," Hinata said in a soft but dangerous voice, "Please don't continue to dishonor me by refusing to take me seriously."

"It's not that!" Naruto protested vehemently, causing noodles to fly out of his mouth.

"Well then, what is it?"

"I… uh…. Well…. The thing is…I couldn't…hit you…because…uh,"

"NARUTO-KUN!"

"I….I…love you," Naruto muttered quickly, turning the deepest shade of crimson Hinata had ever seen.

"Oh," she said with great eloquence.

"Yeah," Naruto said in a subdued voice.

"Well that's good," Hinata said with growing confidence, "Because… I love you too." Naruto grinned from ear to ear, and Hinata couldn't help adding something.

"That's why I had to kick your butt."

"Hinata!"

"Careful Naruto-kun," Hinata advised with a waggled finger, "I'll do it again if I have to."


End file.
